Kassler and Kraut

As you may remember, Uncle T does his own meat curing and sausage making.  I'm always on the look out for some new variety to try.  Enter the Kassler, also spelled Kasseler, it is a salted and slightly smoked cut of pork.  Kassler is most often made with neck or loin, any cut can be used.  Oh yeah, in case you didn't guess from the spelling, it is a German cured meat.

We learned to appreciate German food during the 4 years we were stationed in Germany, in particular the Bavarian style of German food.  Yes, there is more to German food than bratwurst,schnitzel, and spätzle. 

As a side note, my great great grandparents came from Germany as teens.   I saw several old women while traveling in Bavaria that were the spitting image of my great grandmother.  Maybe that had some bearing on my liking of German food, in that it influenced some of the food I grew up on.

Kassler is frequently served with sour kraut and mashed potatoes in Germany and that is what I ended up doing though when the meal was planned I didn't know that.  The main difference is that most places I've seen have cooked the sour kraut and we ate it fresh from the jar.  In true Uncle T fashion, the sour kraut was fermented with cabbage from our garden.  I'll include instructions on that as well since the taste beats commercially produced kraut.

Kassler

Boneless Pork Loin 4 -5 lbs
4 liters(1 gal) water
350 g(12 oz) kosher salt
225 g(8 oz) sugar
42 g(1.5 oz) pink salt(cure #1, Prague Powder)
1 Tbs Juniper berries
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp coriander
1tsp caraway seed
1 tsp fennel seed
fresh or dried sage
4 - 6 garlic cloves

To prepare the brine, combine all the ingredients, except the pork, in a large pot and heat to a simmer and stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.  Refrigerate until cool.

Make sure the pork loin has only 1/4 inch of fat or less covering it.  Put the pork loin in the brine. Use a weight to keep it submerged if necessary.  Refrigerate for 48 hours.  Take the pork loin out of the brine and rinse in cold water then dry.  Place it on a rack in the refrigerator to dry for at least an hour and no more than a day.  Smoke the dry pork loin until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees.  It can be eaten warm or cold.

Fresh from the smoker, yes this one had a bit heavier smoke than usual

Interior view.

Traditionally, Beech or Alder wood is used to smoke Kassler but since I have neither of those trees available, I used Crepe Myrtle wood.  Crepe Myrtle produces a light smoke with a slightly floral note.  The light smoke is the key.  This is not the place to use Hickory or some other stronger smoke.  Apple and Pecan wood would probably do well with this also.

Sour Kraut, when you come down to it, is simply fermented cabbage.  This version has the benefit of juniper berries and caraway seed to add more layers of flavor.  Just as with Kimchi, fermentation acts as a method of preservation, a flavor enhancer, and as we now know a health booster.  Kraut can be eaten cold as a side dish, used as a garnish on grilled sausages, or used to create an entree.  Our favorite way to eat sour kraut is as a side and sometimes on grilled sausages.  Both of these uses keep the best flavor and most of the beneficial microbes.  The up side is that patience is the hardest part about making this lovely product.

Sour Kraut
8-10 cups shredded cabbage, loosely packed (about 2 lbs), about 1 cabbage
10 juniper berries
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1-2 tsp. un-iodized or pickling salt
1 c. filtered water mixed with 1 tsp. salt

Combine the cabbage, juniper berries, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, and salt in a non-reactive bowl.  Mix thoroughly and let rest for  10 - 15 minutes.  Mix again and let rest for 1 - 2 hours.  These steps will start the cabbage releasing juices.

Pack the cabbage into a sterilized wide mouth quart jar.  Pack it down with a wooden mallet.  Top off the jar with the filtered salty water(1 cup filtered water with 1 - 2 tsp salt) to the rim of the jar.  Cap loosely with a sterilized canning lid.  Put the jar in a tray/pan to catch overflow juices.  Keep it between 65 and 72 F for 2 - 3 weeks.  After 3 weeks, after the bubbling stops, top it off with salty water (1 tsp salt/1 cup water) if the level is below the rim.  Any white spots or film on top can be skimmed off and discarded.  Close the jar tightly and refrigerate until you eat it all.

A quart and a pint of Bavarian style kraut and almost a quart of plain kraut

Our summer time house temperature runs about 74 and winter time is 72 and batches made with both fall and spring plantings of cabbage have turned out quite well.  So, don't stress over your house temperature with this.

Freshly chilled kraut, pan seared kassler, and chunky garlic mashed potatoes

This is good German comfort food.  Probably more so than jaeger schnitzel mit spätzle .  Since you do the curing and fermenting yourself the flavors are much better than store bought and they are better for you.  I will say that this kraut is good on both grilled bratwurst and deep fried bacon wrapped beef hot dogs as well as a stand alone side dish.  Give it a try.  I think you'll like it.

Uncle T